six more dead bodies to those to be viewed. Arrangements for flooding the pits were immediately commenced, though attended with much difficulty, in consequence of the immense amount of pressure required effectually to meet the force of the smoke at the upcast. But on the 30th the Times reported the quantity of water then entering the downcast shaft to amount from 70,000 to 80,000 gallons per hour, nearly 2,000,000 gallons per day. Some idea of the amount of labour involved in laying on this immense supply may be obtained from the fact that, although the work was commenced immediately after the explosion, and a large staff of men was constantly employed, it was not until late on the night of the 27th that it was completed.

30. CLOSE OF THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF 1871.-There was no closing ceremonial beyond the singing of the National Anthem. The number of visitors was-by season tickets, 1495; on payment of 18., 14,605: total, 16,100. The total number of persons who visited the Exhibition since its opening in May was 1,142,154. In a lecture delivered in the Albert Hall, it was stated that the greatest number of visitors was on Whit Monday, when 21,946 passed the turnstiles, and the smallest on the 18th of August, when there were only 5400. There had not been a single case of wilful injury to pictures, marble, or textile, or any instance of misconduct calling for the intervention of the police. No theft had taken place; and the arrangement which is supposed to have contributed to this gratifying result was the employment of retired policemen as check-takers at all the turnstiles. Looked at from the commercial point of view, the success of the Exhibition was complete. But one accident occurred during the season, when two ladies fell on one of the large staircases; and there was not a single quarrel or assault among the whole million and a quarter of visitors.

OCTOBER.

4. TERRIBLE COLLIERY EXPLOSION.-Another frightful colliery accident occurred at Aberdare, from an explosion of fire-damp in the Gadly coalpit, at six o'clock in the morning. As it took place at so early an hour a great number of the men had not descended the pit; but four men were killed, and three were badly burned. The rumour spread that a hundred lives were lost, and thousands of people hastened to the scene of the explosion. The morning was rather dull and hazy, as on nearly all the days on which past explosions have occurred. It is presumed that such weather retards ventilation, and thereby increases the risk of explosion.

After an inquest on the bodies, the jury returned the following verdict:-"We are of opinion that the deceased met with their deaths through an explosion of gas in the Gadlys Colliery, in Oakwell's Stall, supposed to have accumulated owing to the door being left open, and that it ignited by coming in contact with fire in some unknown way. We recommend that the company should adopt the suggestion of Mr. Wales, the Government Inspector, with reference to the increased ventilation."

AT CHELSEA AN EXPLOSION from another cause injured thirteen persons very seriously. The scene of the accident was a six-roomed house and shop in Manor-street, occupied by William Monk, an oil and Italian merchant. He kept the cellar stored with benzoline, paraffine, gunpowder, and other explosive materials. A shopman named Wilsmore resided with his wife and children on the premises. In the morning, soon after eleven o'clock, Wilsmore descended into the cellar, in order to see if the gas was in working order. He thought all was right, and he returned to the shop. While there he heard a loud explosion, and he then recollected that he had left a lighted candle in the cellar. He cried out " Fire, fire!" Immediately afterwards a second explosion occurred, and the whole front of the shop was blown out into the street. A crowd of upwards of 1000 persons then assembled in front of the premises. Wilsmore, who was dreadfully burnt, was rescued from the shop by some policemen. The flames spread rapidly through the whole house, and three other explosions followed. A fourth explosion caused the side of the house which lay in Manor-gardens to be blown out, and the timber and bricks were scattered in all directions. Three policemen and three firemen belonging to the brigade were terribly injured. The fire burnt with fury for over two hours; and it was only after four land-steamers and one manual engine had thrown several tons of water upon it that it became subdued. Those injured were sent in cabs to St. George's Hospital, and upon being counted upon their arrival they numbered thirteen. The police instituted a searching investigation, in order to ascertain, if possible, the origin of the fire, and arrived at the following conclusions:First, that the fire was caused by an escape of gas in the cellar underneath the shop, and that the escaping gas became ignited by coming in contact with the candle left in the cellar by the shopman Wilsmore; and that the four following explosions were caused by the fire coming in contact with paraffine, benzoline, and gunpowder, which were all stored upon the premises.

SOCIAL SCIENCE CONGRESS.-This year the congress met at Leeds, under the presidency of Sir John Pakington. The following were the special subjects as arranged for discussion by the Committee :

Jurisprudence (W. Vernon Harcourt, Q.C., M.P., President) :— 1. What steps ought to be taken to establish a better system of legal education? 2. What is the best constitution of local courts, and what should be their jurisdiction? What alterations are

expedient in the laws relating to the devolution and transfer of land?

Repression of Crime Section (Lord Teignmouth, Chairman) :— 1. How far ought the cellular system of imprisonment to be adopted? and how far does it necessarily interfere with productive labour? 2. By what principles ought the amount of punishment, other than capital, to be regulated? 3. By what measures may the trading in stolen property, whether by purchasing it or receiving it in pledge, be most effectually prevented?

Education (Mr. Edward Baines, M.P., President) :-1. What are the special requirements for the improvement of the education of girls? 2. How may the education of neglected children be provided for? The question to be considered under the divisions (a), Industrial Schools and their relation to the School Boards; (b), in what form, if any, may compulsion be best applied? 3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of large as compared

with small schools?

Health (Mr. George Goodwin, F.R.S., President) :—1. What are the best and most economical methods of removing and utilizing the sewage of large towns? 2. What are the best means of securing the sanitary improvement of human habitations? 3. What are the best means of promoting the health of operatives in factories and workshops?

Economy and Trade (Mr. William Newmarch, F.R.S., President): 1. What amendments are needed in the existing laws for the licensing of houses for the sale of intoxicating liquors? 2. What principles ought to regulate the assessment and administration of local taxation? 3. Is it desirable that the State or municipality should assist in providing improved dwellings for the lower classes? and, if so, to what extent, and in what way?

Mr. Baines, in an address on the education question, gave his opinion in favour of the payment of fees in denominational schools. He recapitulated the published regulations of the London School Board, and held them up to admiration; gave an account of the educational system of Zurich; just touched upon the work done in England by Mechanics' Institutes; and described the Swedish school-fittings shown in the International Exhibition.

In the Jurisprudence Section, the question of the expediency of changes in the mode of transferring land was discussed at considerable length.

In the second division of the Economy and Trade Section, under the presidency of Mr. Mundella, M.P., a paper was read by Sir Baldwin Leighton on "Poor Law Out-Relief." He described the administration of a Union in a West Midland district, where the Board were never guided by motives of economy, falsely so called, but solely by principles. The Guardians were active and unremitting in their exertions to mitigate the frightful causes of pauperism. The death-rate had been reduced to less than 14 per 1000. Outrelief was always refused to persons of indifferent character; but

when widows or men with children applied, the Board offered to take part of the family into the House. The children were taught not only reading and writing, but also industrial work, and they had no difficulty in getting situations. The Guardians always acted upon the principle of setting a premium upon thrift, and a discount upon crime. The following figures showed the results of their labours :-In 1836 the population numbered 17,855, and the paupers 1395, or 8 per cent. ; in 1856 the population was 19,000, and the paupers numbered 329, or 12 per cent.; and in 1870 the population had reached 19,300, but the paupers had fallen to 493, or 1 per cent. The reduction in the expenditure in the period was 100 per cent.; and the present Poor-rate was 6d. in the pound.

Afternoon excursions were made to places of interest in the vicinity of Leeds. One party went to the Knostrop Sewage Works, another to the Calder Farm Reformatory, a third to Kirkstall Abbey and the Norman Church at Adel, and a fourth to Roundhay-park, recently purchased by the Corporation of Leeds as a public recreation ground.

On the Sunday evening the Bishop of Winchester preached in the parish church to a crowded congregation.

Mr. Goodwin, President of the Health Section, delivered an address, in the course of which he referred to the changes in the sanitary laws and local government boards. He laid much stress on the importance of having medical officers of health independent of private practice. After briefly describing the state of Leeds with reference to the vast amount of unconsumed smoke liberated in its atmosphere, and to the excessive death-rate of some parts of the town, he alluded to a story from Calcutta, that in consequence of the effect produced upon the health of the town by recent improvements in drainage and water-supply, the undertakers were applying for compensation for loss of business, which, if not true, yet served to show what, in public opinion, the result of the work had been. Mr. Goodwin then mentioned that he had been authorized by an inhabitant of London to state that he was willing and ready to appropriate to the improvement of the health and condition of the poorer classes of the metropolis a sum equal to that given by the late George Peabody for a similar purpose-half a million of money-when he should see a mode of satisfactorily effecting this without the fear of pauperizing the classes he sought to benefit. Means had been taken to make this offer known to a limited extent, and a large number of suggestions had been sent to the proposer.

A paper was read by Dr. Leone Levi on International Arbitration, which led to a long discussion. Mr. Newmarch, President of the Economy and Trade Section, in his address on Political Economy as a science, spoke of the efforts now made to render some of its elementary doctrines matters of common school teaching, and referred to the methods pursued in France, Germany, and America. At the final meeting of the Congress, Sir John Pakington made

some remarks in reference to a paper which had been read by Mr. Dalby on the education of the deaf and dumb. He said that great progress had been made by teaching them to watch the motions of the lips, and added, "We had a most remarkable display yesterday on the part of a gentleman from Holland, who is afflicted by being deaf and dumb. He appeared in the Education Department very kindly for the information of the public, and now through the agency of this Congress it should be borne in mind that that remarkable fact will attain a degree of publicity which it has not hitherto attained, and which probably it would have been very long ere it could attain, had it not been for the attention which was drawn to it in the Education Department."

Dr. Spark performed a selection of music almost every morning during the meeting on the superb new organ in the Town Hall.

7. FATAL FIRE IN LONDON.-A fire broke out early in the morning, in the house of Mr. Brown, chemist, at No. 98, Gray's-inn-road, Holborn. The engines were soon on the spot, and a fireman, named Ford, brought down five persons in safety with his fire-escape, and then, hearing further cries for help, he again rushed up the ladder, and was in the act of bringing down a woman, when the fire caught the canvass shoot, and the man was forced to let go his hold. The woman fell to the ground, escaping almost uninjured, but the fireman became wedged in the wire network of the escape, and was seen plunging desperately in the midst of the flames to extricate himself. When at last he did so, he fell on his head with such force as to double up his helmet. He was at once removed to the Royal Free Hospital, where he died in the evening. Much sympathy was felt for the widow and children, for whose benefit a subscription was immediately set on foot. The funeral of the gallant fireman who thus lost his life in the intrepid discharge of his duty, took place on the 14th. His body was borne on a fire-engine drawn by four horses, and followed by two large bodies of police with detachments of the fire-brigade. He was buried in Abney Park Cemetery. At the inquest, after a lengthy investigation regarding the wire-work of the fire-escape in which the unfortunate man had become entangled, the jury appended to the verdict of Accidental Death the observation that if the escape had been covered with wire gauze instead of wire netting, and if the canvas had been uninflammable, the fireman's life might have been saved.

INSPECTION OF THE "GOLIATH."-A visit of inspection was paid to this vessel by Messrs. Tuffnell and Corbett, Government inspectors, and about a hundred ladies and gentlemen, for the purpose of inquiring into the result of the system adopted by the Board of Management of the Forest-gate school district, which had now been in operation some months. The Admiralty had placed this 84-gun man-of-war at the disposal of the Board, to be used as a trainingship, in lieu of building for the increased school accommodation required for the district. Most of the visitors came in the steamer which started, gaily dressed with flags, from the Charing Cross pier